Timing Belt vs Timing Chain, Which is Better?

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This debate comes up every time I mention a timing belt or timing chain on my social media. I thought I would make this video as a response to those comments. I hope you find it entertaining and informative.

What do you think is better, a timing belt, or a timing chain?

Thank you for watching!

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A discussion of the pros/cons of interference engines would make a great follow up video. Keep up the great work.

jimsalmi

I'm in the timing chain club, if you don't have to deal with this issue in a very long time or maybe never in your ownership time that's a budget friendly solution.

robertogomez

Well… my 06’ Toyota Corolla has 290k miles on it with the original chain and have had zero issues with my timing. I’m sure reliability of a chain is different between manufacturers, but there’s a reason most Toyotas produced today have chains

Pickle

I’ve thought about this debate a lot and I used to be 100% in the timing chain camp. I thought belts were crap and that belt failure and subsequent engine damage was a frequent occurrence. A few years ago I bought an 07 TL-S and did a timing belt job as it had 150, 000 miles on it and was due. It was the original belt that was still perfectly fine well after its scheduled maintenance should have been done. That changed my perspective on timing belts as I had thought of them as flimsy and ready to grenade at any second. Then on the other hand I started watching a lot of FordTechMakuloco videos on timing jobs for the 5.4 ford v8. The timing related failures on that engine are so bad that it took away that image I had of timing chains being “bullet-proof” and lasting forever. And as Eric pointed out, timing chains are a lot harder to service and because it’s not a regularly scheduled item, they generally require many more components to be removed than a timing belt job requires. I will say that a timing chain is the only way to go for a pushrod engine as they are so short and stretching isn’t nearly as big of a concern. I guess I wrote a lot to say that timing chains aren’t indestructible and timing belts are more durable and reliable than you might think.

matthewwaskevich

I changed the timing belt on my Alfa Romeo GT diesel. The interval is every 4 years or 40.000 Miles.
I replaced the whole package which is: timing belt, water pump, timing ideler (roller), timing belt tensioner, aux belt, aux tensioner, aux roller. +coolant +alternator bearings (this is not in the interval but I accidentally found out that they were out). It's the most satisfying feeling you know you replaced everything that needs to be replaced and enjoy driving the car!
I think the issue with "chain people" is they forget they need to change the water pump (often driven on aux belts), aux belt, aux tensioner etc - because they think it "needs no chain service". Good video Eric, cheers from Europe! ;)

djlosmi

I think both are excellent as long as each are implemented correctly. Timing belts should be relatively easy to change so need to be accessible. Timing chains need high quality guides and tensioners as these are most often the weak links in the system.

invertedpolarity

Some belts are good, some chains are bad. But for the average person having a chain means less cost for a longer time.

It's also sometimes just as expensive/difficult to change the belt.

Oblithian

just wanted to say thank you for everything eric. You have always been my instructor in my journey in automotive repair. Your guidance will be missed. Enjoy your vacation good sir.

TheWickedstitches

I have both timing belt in Acura TL and chain in Acura RDX . Like you said keep up on service intervals, and don't run the crap out of them they will run for a long time. Great video Eric. Also buy OEM parts when you can.

sagetl

It really depends on the design of the engine. I have a 2012 Ford Explorer with the 3.5L V6, and the infamous timing-chain-driven water pump that fails and leaks coolant into the engine oil. In fact, I'm having said timing-chain and water-pump replaced this week because at 140K miles it has finally started to leak coolant into the engine oil. 😞

I can't help but think that it would be an easier (and cheaper) repair if it had had a timing belt instead of a timing chain -- since belts are *designed* to be replaced, and chains are *not.*

Having said that -- engineers that design their engines to have timing belts could do a *FAR* better job at making those timing belts easier to replace! There are far too many timing belts that are *supposed* to have been designed to be replaced, yet take 10 to 15 damn hours of labor to do it. (I'm looking at you, Volkswagen!) What the hell were they thinking with that?!

So really, it all depends on the design. I think engineers should be forced to repair their engines themselves -- *THAT* would go a long way towards making designs better for both timing chains and timing belts!

LMacNeill

I was always told that a belt tends to be a quieter running engine vs a chain, but also it's always a good idea to at least look at the chain as often as you would a belt if you like your car.

Those also who say you don't need to really do any maintenance to a chain are usually the ones who forget or have family members that'll take that info and roll with it and have a good car ruined at 250k miles because something with the chain went bad.

fenstermakerwj

Both my vehicles are chain driven. It happened to be the vehicles I was looking to own and worked out that way. I personally don't care, but sure appreciate the lower maintenance factor. As a past mechanic, I can say that a stretched chain typically can mean some kind of major work is required as things wear over time. When people ask me about chains or belts, I simply tell them something similar to what you said about more maintenance vs less. One thing I do think about when buying a used car on a budget, is that the purchaser does not need to worry about the last time the belt was replaced, when the motor is chain driven. That doesn't mean it is bulletproof, but can help someone tight on cash.

natedub

IMO the belt vs chain thing goes back to the idea of the old reliable & DIY serviceability (aka push rod engines). People hear "Chain" now, and their brain triggers to Grandpa's 1968 Ford F100 that's still running with the original chain in it, or the time Dad's 1975 Chevy needed a chain & they did it in the garage in under 2 hours with a set of Craftsman tools. But it's NOT the same anymore. IMO if car makers would've given just 2 more inches of room in an engine bay, belts would've never fell out of favor, because they are actually easier to change than just harder to get to than the timing chains that were still in use at the time. Kinda like "In Tank Fuel Pumps", everybody hated them until car makers started to put access holes in the cars, so you don't have to drop the tanks anymore.
What do I prefer? Well I'm one of those guys that puts a gear drive in a push rod V8 so I get the raw mechanical "sound" of the early 50's & 40's.

BareRoseGarage

My "favorite" would be those poorly-designed (I'm looking at you, GM) timing chain sets with the aluminum cam gear capped with plastic teeth. I can't count how many of those I've replaced, then having to go into the oil pan to remove the plastic shrapnel. Oh yeah, fun times.

valengreymoon

First time viewer...I like the simple, unbiased, straightforward and logical discussion/explanation. Thanks for this video!

reinhartbigl

So my '89 Toyota pickup 22RE with 278, 000 miles has a chain, my '99 Camry 4-cylinder has a belt, and my '06 Camry 4-cylinder with VVT (variable valve timing) has a chain. I was curious why Toyota would switch back to chains, considering the points about maintenance and upkeep brought up in this video, so I Googled the idea. One of the results from that search was a video from Scotty Kilmer discussing that exact idea. You can go find Scotty's video on your own, but the key element in modern engines is getting the best of everything involving performance and emissions in the same engine package, hence the variable valve timing. The problem with belts and VVT is that belts stretch and wear much faster than chains, so belt driven VVT engines have performance and emissions issues much much sooner than chain driven engines. Certainly changing the belts sets the timing back to spec, but you will have many belt changes before your chain-driven engine gets mechanically far enough out of time to fail an emissions test or have a degradation in performance. Oh, and the service interval to maintain proper timing for emissions has nothing to do with the service life of the belt. My '99 Camry has a belt, and a NON-interference engine, so run that belt till it breaks. (Not really!) It'll pass an emissions test just before that belt breaks, because there isn't enough change in the valve timing to change the engine emissions and performance values. It's a simpler engine.

philipoien

I Do Cars regularly tears down engines, most seem to have timing chains, and there is almost always a chain or guide, or tensioner problem encountered. I’d say your advice regarding good preventive maintenance is the key to long engine life.

CrazyPetez

Replacing a timing belt here in Canada from the Honda/Acura dealer for a V6 is over $2000. About $1200 from a private mechanic. Over time that costs will add us. Timing chain is the way to go.

MatrixDiscovery

This video is perfect "timing" because one of my Civics is due for a timing belt and I just ordered the parts about an hour before you uploaded this video.

averyalexander

My first car was a vauxhall corsa 1.2 petrol. The timing chain went slack which is a common fault for this model and it ended up cost me an absolute fortune to fix. Personally I now prefer timing belts as its easy to visually check them and service if required. But clearly the best possible timing system is timing gears. I owned a Honda vfr750 which had timing gears. The noise alone of the cogs whiring was 1 of the best features of the bike. Kinda sounded like there was a supercharger fitted to the bike. HRC engineering at its finest 👌

bchant

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